Weekend Metro Service Until 2AM

This weekend was the first of a two month period where the Metro / Treno of Athens will be servicing users till 2AM. We came back from a concert and according to the picture were at a Metro station at around 1:15AM. There were a lot of people, it really looks like Athenians appreciate this extra service.

Traditionally the way to get back from going out is to take a taxi. Taxis in Athens are cheap, but with the cost of living rising a lot lately (and salaries of course not rising), saving a few precious Euros for a taxi ride is a good idea. The "trial period" for the extended Metro times is supposed to measure the demand of this service. In my opinion, if the passenger numbers stay as high as on this weekend, demand should be proven. Oh, and I didn't see any scenes of misbehaving or drunken passengers, it was all a quiet and civilized atmosphere.

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I don 't think they are not cheap, many pensioners and students, even pupils in the morning use them. This is not a sign for being expensive. Of course, in contrast, taxi services are extremely poor: double, triple, quadruple routes are the rule, not receipts given, no credit cards accepted, ignorance of many roads, even well-known ones, hygiene, rudeness... The basic problem is the feeling I have when in, that I owed something to the driver from the past and he expects me to give him. The last time I grabbed a taxi was I think before I acquired a scooter, I think before 2,5 years.

Compare the taxi fares to their monthly income and you will see that they use taxis because of the very poor quality of the public transportation means (namely buses and the tram) and not because it is a cheap mean of transportation.

Well, it taxis in Greece are expensive, in Spain are ultra duper expensive. Let me explain. For the price of a ride of 6 km with luggage, in Spain you made 2km. The monthly income is almost the same, prices are almost the same except the accommodation that is quite expensive.

Therefore, I lower the limit, and I will say that taxis in Spain are expensive, but in Greece are cheap.

Really, I do not lie when I tell you that I learned how to use a taxi in Greece, because I used taxis three times in my life in Spain: In Madrid once, in Palencia twice.

They're so expensive that you don't even think to take one if you're late and you lost the bus, you wait until the next bus.

BTW: there is always something wrong with public transportation in everyplace. But I prefer buses in Thessaloniki than in Athens. ;)